1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and in particular to aircraft data processing systems. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for an aircraft data processing system with a multi-core processor.
2. Background
As Software has become a standard method for control of devices, there has been an increased effort in determining the safety and security levels at which the software operates. Many authorities exist to provide certifications that software operates at a given safety or security level. Safety certifications are used to test, verify, and validate that software performs as stated per system requirements. Security certification of software mitigates application vulnerability to undesirable influences and unauthorized access.
Certification of software is an expensive proposition. In the case of flight critical software, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) encourages the use of the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) DO-178B guideline for certification. It has been shown that it costs up to one hundred dollars per line of code to certify software at the DO-178B Level A criterion. The expense is even greater for security certifications. For security certifications of Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL) Level 7, it has been estimated that the cost is around one thousand dollars per line of code.
The concept of Mixed Criticality presents another problem with certified software. If there is no way to guarantee that software at different safety or security levels cannot interact with each other, then all software must be certified at the highest safety or security level. This can greatly increase the certification cost of a product.
Typically, a combination of hardware and software partitions are used to guarantee safety and security of software used on a platform. Ideally the partitions would be created with the least amount of software necessary to help guarantee safety and security of the system. Reduced software size leads to reduced certification and system development costs and faster time for certification completion.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that overcomes one or more of the issues described above as well as possibly other issues.